Mystery: The Ultimate Tarot

Chapter 396 The Road to Pilgrimage

The people of Sen'er City rallied together, ready to depart. Ten thousand people might not sound like many, but it was a massive force.

Raphael led the way, followed by the high priest Zede, who held aloft a tall banner bearing the symbol of "Lord of Evil Desires".

To make it easier for people behind to see, Raphael hung two large lanterns at the top of the flag so that everyone around could see it.

Behind Raphael was a huge procession of pilgrims, carrying only a few belongings, their last vestiges of connection to the city.

They are also responsible for transporting the tents by vehicle.

These vehicles were modified by Raphael in Backlund. They were large vehicles with small wheels, and all had large springs as shock absorbers, making them very suitable for traversing wilderness roads. Usually, one person would push from behind while two others pulled from the front.

They were all extraordinary individuals; the three of them could easily drive a car.

The elite troops of Sener City were positioned on both flanks of the pilgrimage team, ready to respond to any emergencies, while Speaker Harden led the way at the rear to ensure no one fell behind.

Furthermore, to prevent people from falling behind, a group leader was appointed for every ten people. The group leader was responsible for regularly checking the number of people in their group. There was a captain for every ten groups, and a captain for every ten teams. If anyone was found to be missing, it had to be reported immediately. If an emergency was discovered, an alert had to be issued immediately, and elite extraordinary individuals had to be summoned for assistance.

After Raphael offered a brief prayer to the "Lord of Evil Desires" at the very front of the procession, the pilgrimage officially began.

People in the group frequently turned around to look at the city where they had lived before.

When they reached the mountain pass, Raphael stopped and said, "Let's rest for a bit, take another look at the city, and set off again in ten minutes."

Everyone turned around. Sen'er City was now completely dark, standing alone on the land under the flashes of lightning.

Before long, monsters will reappear in this city. In a few years at most, the houses will begin to collapse, and in a few hundred years, this place may become just like any other city-state ruins.

Some people stared blankly at the city, while others, after a while, felt no reluctance and went to find a place to rest.

Ten minutes later, they set off again, with no one feeling any reluctance.

Raphael quickened his pace. Once they turned the corner of the mountain pass, Sen'er City would be out of sight. Their steps became lighter, as if they had severed all ties with Sen'er City.

During the pilgrimage, the group ate together.

Raphael prayed devoutly among the crowd, while another Raphael first sacrificed himself, then returned to the "Dark Hut" to collect the sacrificed food and water, and then gave them to the Forsaken Land.

Although this made Raphael a little busier, it avoided a lot of trouble, as cooking, finding fuel, hunting, and other activities would have taken a considerable amount of time.

Now, all that's needed is to distribute the food, and the time left can be used for rest and travel.

On the first day, they only walked about 50 kilometers, which did not meet Raphael's expectations.

However, considering that such a mass march required a period of adjustment, Raphael didn't pay too much attention to it.

The second day's journey was indeed much faster. The previous few days' journey had been relatively smooth because there were patrol teams in Sen'er City, and most of the monsters around Sen'er City had been hunted down.

However, after leaving the patrol area of ​​Sen'er City, the party began to encounter monster attacks.

After all, a group of 10,000 people is simply too large; they would attract all the monsters in the surrounding area.

The people of Sen'er City were almost all mobilized for battle. The monster attack did not cause panic among them. On the contrary, because everyone was going out to fight, their formation was almost disrupted.

After a day or two of getting used to each other, the chaos will no longer occur when encountering monsters.

While leading the way, Raphael tried to avoid city ruins or seemingly dangerous terrain, so they didn't encounter any particularly powerful monsters.

This was based on Raphael's experience during his brief stay in the Forsaken Lands. Generally speaking, the more powerful or ferocious monsters all had their own territories to manage.

Most of those areas are the ruins of former cities or terrain with some special environment.

They traveled for four or five days, and although there were a few casualties, the overall journey was relatively smooth.

On the sixth day, after breakfast, the pilgrims, as usual, walked for more than two hours before taking a break.

Raphael didn't feel tired, so he took a look around the pilgrimage procession.

To make it easier to count the number, the people of Sen'er City sat down in groups to drink water and rest. When they saw the divine messenger, they all stood up to greet him.

Raphael kept raising his hand or nodding to indicate his presence. When he reached the middle of the way, he noticed that there was a group with eleven people. He looked around at the other groups and found that none of them were short of people.

Raphael then walked towards the group that had one more person and immediately asked, "Who is the group leader?"

"Sir, messenger," a middle-aged man stood up and said, "I am. What are your orders?"

Raphael opened his mouth, but remained silent for several seconds: "Right, what did I want to talk to him about?"

Then he looked at the number of people in this group again and suddenly realized, "The number of people in your group is wrong."

组长数了数：「1、2、3————9、10、11，神使先生，人数对啊。」

Raphael paused for a moment, then said, "Yes, the number is correct."

But he realized in his heart that something was wrong, and something very wrong.

However, he didn't show it. Instead, he went online with his "main account" and took another look with "real vision".

1、2、3————8、9、10。

The number of people is correct.

But why were there eleven people just now?

Raphael then said to the team leader, "Count them again."

「是，1、2、3——————8、9、10，神使先生，人数是对的。」

Raphael then asked the others, "Look around you, are there any strangers?"

Others either shook their heads or said "no".

Raphael frowned. There was indeed an extra "person" just now, but that person left before the "main account" came online.

In the real world, Raphael, a saint, was unaware of when that "person" disappeared.

This indicates that the other party is at least at the level of a saint.

"Big" used "True Sight" to search the surroundings but found no suspicious targets. Raphael could only wave to the members of the group to indicate that everything was fine.

The members of that group were somewhat bewildered, clearly unaware that anything had gone wrong.

Raphael then found several saints in Sen'er City, briefly explained the situation to them, and told them to be careful, not to make a fuss for the time being, and to issue an immediate warning if anything seemed amiss.

Upon hearing that they had encountered a monster at the Saint level, the group immediately became more alert.

After the rest period, the pilgrims continued their journey.

Raphael, who was walking at the very front, maintained the same pace as before.

The saints all became more vigilant; they harbored no illusions that the monster had simply escaped.

At noon, Raphael prayed for food and water as usual. After the food and water were distributed, Raphael ate with several extraordinary individuals around him.

Because of the extra person that had appeared earlier, Raphael first counted the number of people around him. Including himself, there were a total of 7 people, one of whom was High Priest Zede, and five Extraordinary beings who were following Raphael and were responsible for scouting the way.

Raphael tilted his head back, took a sip of water, and was about to continue eating his bread when he suddenly stopped: "How did it become 8?"

Is it a personal matter?

This time, he did not immediately establish contact with the "big one." He had thought about this while traveling earlier; the monster seemed to have extremely strong divination abilities or the ability to warn of danger.

The monster will disappear immediately before the "larger" one can even look in this direction.

Therefore, he couldn't immediately expose the other party this time; he needed to observe what was going on first.

He looked carefully at everyone. High Priest Zede should not be a fake; the sores on his face were still in the same places.

Those five extraordinary individuals didn't seem to have any problems.

Beside him sat a handsome young man in his twenties with a wicked smile between his brows.

That's Raphael—yes, that's Raphael's messenger, the guide for this pilgrimage.

Of course, the divine messenger couldn't possibly have any problems.

He was a little puzzled: Who's the problem? — No, it's me — That's right, I'm "The Devil" Collins.

There were eight people in total, and none of them had any problems.

But Collins, the "devil," knew very well that one of them must be the problem.

At this moment, "divine messenger" Raphael, while eating bread, looked at "demon" Collins and asked him with his eyes what was wrong.

Collins, the "Demon," thought to himself: "I'm still not mature or experienced enough; I was actually noticed. Should I tell 'Mr. Divine Messenger' about this strange place? Maybe I should wait and observe a bit more."

So "Demon" Collins stood up: "I'm full, I'm going to go check out the back of the line."

"Divine Messenger" Raphael nodded. He was currently preparing for his ascension ceremony, so he kept quiet as much as possible. "Demon" Collins was aware of this.

High Priest Zede smiled at "Demon" Collins and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Collins."

"It's not hard work," Collins smiled.

He strode towards the back, but instead of going to the very back of the line, he found a place to sit down and quietly observed the position of "Divine Messenger" Raphael.

They all seemed normal; at least for the time being, no one seemed to notice anything unusual.

"Demon" Collins couldn't help but frown, feeling that something was wrong, and something very wrong!

But he had no clue what exactly was wrong.

We can only wait, slowly.

At that moment, a young child in the pilgrimage group asked "Devil" Collins, "Uncle, what's wrong? You look unhappy."

The adults quickly pulled the children back, while the adults gave "Devil" Collins a fawning yet uneasy smile, afraid of offending him.

Suddenly, a sense of irritation rose from within him. "Demon" Collins looked annoyed, but he tried his best to endure it.

According to "the devil" Collins's idea, the inhabitants of the Forsaken Land should remain there forever.

The Forsaken Land is a treasure trove. Extraordinary creatures that have long been extinct outside are here, and the monsters here have a considerable probability of possessing extraordinary characteristics. How can the outside world compare?

Therefore, the greatest value of Sen'er City lies in the continuous collection of extraordinary traits and sealed artifacts.

However, when "Demon" Collins told "Divine Messenger" Raphael his thoughts, he did not receive a response from the "Divine Messenger."

consent.

First, the "messenger" Raphael needed to prepare for the ceremony through this pilgrimage process. Second, they had to put on an act to make the "Lord of Evil Desires" look like a god who could bring hope to everyone.

Collins, the "Demon," felt even more agitated: "The Lord of Evil Desires" isn't a true god, so what's with the pretense?

He suddenly stood up, left the pilgrimage group, and wanted to be alone.

As they walked, "Demon" Collins seemed to suddenly remember something and stopped abruptly.

What exactly is wrong? —Where?

Collins, the "Demon," felt a chill run down his spine: Damn it! Besides being the "Demon" Collins, I'm also the "Messenger of God" Raphael! These are my two different personalities!

"Demon" Collins whirled around: That guy's got some nerve! He actually stole my identity!

He finally realized that the "Raphael" over there was the monster.

But "Demon" Collins did not stop or turn back; instead, he continued walking forward.

Because that monster stole his identity—or perhaps destiny—without him even noticing, it means the other party is at a very high level, probably at Sequence 2. He remembered that extraordinary beings who followed the "wrong" path only had the ability to steal the destiny of others once they reached Sequence 2.

He definitely couldn't handle such a high level, but now he finally found out where the problem lay. He couldn't let the "big one" appear for the time being, otherwise it would scare the other party away, and he would have to find it again.

If Raphael didn't want to alarm the "big guy," he had other options, since the undead of the "giant king's" young son were also following the pilgrimage team at a distance, just in case of such an emergency.

Then Bradel's undead can hold off the monster, buying time for "Big One".

The current "larger" version is a bit stronger than during the Battle of Pythia, especially after acquiring those level 0 sealed artifacts. It's no problem to scare away an angel.

Having made up his mind, "Demon" Collins called Bradel's undead over as he walked back.

Soon, a huge figure was rapidly approaching, but it was not the living corpse of the "Giant King's" young son, but a skyscraper!

Raphael's eyes widened. Yes, a tall building was rapidly approaching them!

The surroundings changed rapidly. The pilgrims were gone, replaced by crowds dressed in AD clothing. The dark wasteland was gone, replaced by roads, cars, and tall buildings on both sides of the road.